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Stephen Harper’s Tories to steer clear of Quebec election

Quebec's Premier Jean Charest speaks at a rally in his riding of Sherbrooke, Quebec, July 31, 2012. The following day, he called a provincial election, with voters going to the polls on Sept. 4.Photo: (REUTERS/Christinne Muschi)

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government — wary of a backlash in a province where it is already unpopular — will keep a safe distance from the Quebec election, even though the campaign could produce a Parti Quebecois government committed to the break-up of Canada.

The Conservatives will not intervene in the race, nor promote the merits of federalism in an effort to get Liberal premier Jean Charest re-elected. Simply put, they say, it’s up to Quebecers to decide who wins on Sept. 4.
Thomas Mulcair’s opposition NDP — with most of its federal caucus elected from Quebec — will also stay away from high-profile participation.

The Liberal party will not adopt a formal, co-ordinated plan to assist its provincial cousins, although some high-profile MPs such as Justin Trudeau and Stephane Dion are willing to campaign in their own local ridings for Liberal candidates.

On Wednesday, as Charest announced that the race was underway, a spokesman in Harper’s office made it clear the Tories will stay out of the campaign.

“This is a decision for Quebeckers to make,” said Andrew MacDougall, the prime minister’s director of communications. “As with any provincial election, the government is not going to get involved.”
Indeed, federal officials stress it is standard practice for the government not to get involved in provincial campaigns — whether they occur in Quebec, Ontario or Alberta.

What that means is that while any of the Tories’ five Quebec MPs are free to support a local provincial candidate, it stops there. Harper and his ministers will not make campaign appearances. There will be no federal funding announcements for Quebec during the campaign.

If Harper and his cabinet are asked to comment on policy proposals from the race — and particularly if the PQ tries to bait the government into a debate over federal-provincial powers — the response will be silence.
Among those with a keen interest in the provincial campaign is Peter White, a long-term Conservative in the province who is a former riding president.

White said Wednesday none of the federal parties has the organizational clout in Quebec to assist Charest’s Liberals — even if they wanted to.

Moreover, he said it’s not easy for the Tories to publicly lend a hand because they are so easily disparaged.

“It’s almost a situation in Quebec now where if you are a provincial politician and you have the support of the federal Conservatives, it’s like having the support of the Communist party. It’s not exactly a help.”
White said Harper is wise to adopt a “hands-off attitude” as Quebeckers go to the polls.

At the same time, he expressed frustration the Conservative government has not been promoting federalism in Quebec as extensively as past governments did.

“I hate to use the old Trudeau line, but nobody speaks for Canada in Quebec these days. And it’s a real problem.”

White said the dilemma — speaking for Canada but doing so without prompting a backlash during a campaign — is a “tricky question.”

“The prime minister should be the prime minister. He should do his job as the prime minister of Canada, and he should represent Canada to Quebeckers whether there is an election on or not. But he has to do it very, very carefully.

“The prime minister is brilliant. He is an extremely smart strategist and a very good tactician. He just has to put his mind to this problem.”

Meanwhile, an NDP spokesman stressed the party, with 58 of the province’s 75 federal seats, won’t participate in this summer’s provincial contest.

“Our political involvement is federal, and our priority is to work towards replacing Stephen Harper and his Conservatives in 2015,” said Karl Belanger, principal secretary to Mulcair.

Mulcair, a Montreal MP, was once environment minister in Charest’s cabinet but left after a dispute with the premier. Chosen last March to lead the NDP, he is now the most popular federal party leader in Quebec

Still, New Democrats are making a political calculation: Mulcair’s involvement in a provincial race could backfire if it angers Quebecers who then cast their vote for PQ leader Pauline Marois.

As well, although the NDP speaks for federalism, the party knows it drew support in last year’s federal election from a cross-section of Quebeckers who will vote for a variety of provincial parties Sept. 4.

There is no directive to NDP MPs on whether they can support a local candidate, but the pressure to participate doesn’t exist because the New Democrats don’t have a provincial party in Quebec.

The Liberals, with eight Quebec MPs, have no “marching orders” on whether to participate, said former party leader and current Montreal MP Stephane Dion.

Rather, he said MPs such as himself will naturally help out provincial “acquaintances” if asked.

Dion said Harper should not be afraid to publicly say he prefers a Quebec premier who espouses federalism — just as former prime minister Jean Charest did.

“It seems to me that a prime minister should not be shy to say that he wants all the premiers to believe in the country.”

Mark Kennedy arrived on Parliament Hill in 1988 as an Ottawa Citizen political reporter and has covered eight federal election campaigns. He won a National Newspaper Award for enterprise reporting and... read more spent a decade specializing in health-care coverage. He is currently parliamentary bureau chief at The Ottawa Citizen.View author's profile